Glad to see I'm not the only person who loves this movie! OK, I know a lot of people hate it. To them I say, let's agree to disagree.

I suppose one reason many people hate it is because the original is so sacred to them that they think it an insult just to remake it. I don't know what I would've thought had I seen the original first, but this was the first KING KONG movie I ever saw, so I was able to enjoy it on it's own terms. In fact this film and it's sequel (KK Lives) were the only ones my local video store had (WAAAAY back in the mid 1980s) so for awhile I had no idea that this was a remake and that the earlier movie even existed.

As for why there's no dinosaurs, I suppose the filmmakers thought that the idea would be too ridiculous that dinosaurs somehow survived on that one little island when they went extinct on the rest of the planet.

WHEN YOU ARE 10 YEARS OLD EVERYTHING IS ENTERTAINING.THE SCENE WHERE KONG COMES OUT OF THE JUNGLE FOR THE FIRST TIME,WAS TERRIFYING ,...THANKS TO THE HELP OF JOHN BARRY'S SCORE.COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL WHICH WAS CLASSIC,..TO AUDIENCES OF THE DAY.I ASSUME THIS VERSION WORKED FOR THE YOUNGER AUDIENCE.SURE WE CAN CRITIQUE IT 40 YEARS LATER FOR THE MISTAKES WE MISSED,...BUT IT WORKED FOR THE TIME.THE ONE SCENE THAT GOT ME WHEN I WAS OLDER ,..WAS THE SCENE WHERE KONG IS IN THE ARENA ,AND HE BREAKS THE LOCKS,...THEN THEY GO TO A LONG VIEW OF HIM DROPPING THE CHAINS.IT BECAME CHEESY AT THAT POINT.HE WAS VERY ROBOTIC LOOKING FOR THAT BRIEF COUPLE OF SECONDS.HOWEVER,...BEFORE THAT EVERYTHING WAS GOOD.THERE ARE A LOT OF FUNNY ONE LINERS.KING KONG LIVES WAS A BOMB,..AND PETER JACKSON'S VERSION WAS A EFFECT WONDER ,..KONG WAS MORE GORILLA LIKE.KING KONG 1976 HOW EVER YOU SLICE IT WAS A JOY TO WATCH,..AND WAS A BIG PART MY CHILDHOOD AND MILLIONS OF OTHERS.KING KONG TRULY LIVES.....